Introduction and background

As South Africans, we are blessed with incredible diversity reflected not only in our natural resources and biodiversity, but also with our cultural diversity. History shows that people in this country have been living in harmony with nature for centuries. Our forefathers relied on hunting and gathering natural resources for survival. It is our mission to continue this custom of mutual harmony between people and nature by harnessing the spirit of our communities towards nature friendly conservation, thus ensuring the survival of our protected areas in South Africa.

Origins 

The People and Parks Programme (P&PP) in South Africa was born out of the World Parks Congress held in Durban in 2003. On the eve of this congress, The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) [the then Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT)] organised for communities from the Richtersveld, Khomani San, Riemvasmaak, Makuleke areas and communities from iSimangaliso (then known as St Lucia) to meet at Cape Vidal. They represented the people who had been removed or directly threatened with removals from protected areas (PAs) to make way for wildlife and conservation.

The congress highlighted the important role PAs play in sustainable development, conservation and fighting poverty. It also highlighted the importance of involving local people as equal partners in PAs, which should include decision making, management and sharing of benefits. The World Parks Congress and the Programme of Work on Protected Areas at the Convention on Biodiversity Diversity (CBD) showed strong commitment of the international conservation communities and governments to protecting and upholding the rights of communities affected by conservation programmes.

The People and Parks Programme has certainly come a long way since the World Parks Congress held in Durban in 2003 and the first People and Parks Forum session held in Swadini in October, 2004. Since then our programme has gained momentum in identifying specific activities and processes that address issues at the interface between conservation and the communities. We all work to promote and protect our country’s resources, but also to highlight and implement the rights of communities affected by conservation processes. It is only when we achieve mutual harmony and agreement between all involved parties that we can rightfully call our foundation ‘successful’.

Today we have a robust People and Parks Programme with strong community involvement, solid policies, structures and frameworks in place to ensure further success of the programme toward the future.Between 2004 and 2008, three national People and Parks (P&P) conferences were held. At these conferences, all people with interests in PAs were invited to participate. They shared their experiences, discussed the challenges they faced and highlighted best practice examples for everyone to learn from. These conferences shaped the progress of the P&PP in South Africa. Following these conferences an Action Plan was developed. It provides a structure and framework for the implementation of the P&PP.

Good progress has been made since 2004, however the current challenge is to apply the improvements from national level through to local level. It’s also essential to find real situations that show the results of the implementation of the Action Plan, both positive and negative. This publication serves to highlight and showcase these best practices by visiting and analysing projects across the country. Further to this, the best practices reflect the history, development and the response by PA agencies towards shaping the People and Parks Programme and its policies.

People and Parks focus area defined

Protected areas are important tools for conservation of biological diversity and are the cornerstones for sustainable development strategies. Apart from their environmental benefits, some can generate significant economic returns and as such were central to the achievement of the 2010 target of signifi­cantly reducing biodiversity loss as articulated in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation as well as the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals set for 2014.

Protected areas and other conservation efforts exist in areas of extreme poverty and must be seen as land use options that can contribute positively to sustainable development through creation of job opportunities. The imperative therefore is to find approaches to deal with such co-existence between pockets of high value biodiversity and nodes of high socio-economic development needs. However, the linkages between biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction and economic development are often overlooked and an artificial choice or a trade-off is too often created between investing in bio­diversity and investing in poverty reduction.

The People and Parks Programme in South Africa was as a result of the fifth World Parks Congress held in Durban in 2003 which set the scene for a global dialogue on the use of conservation benefits to al­leviate poverty. This was a result of the acknowledgement of an ethical imperative to recognize indig­enous and local communities’ rights and access to the protected areas. Historically protected areas were established at the expense of local communities through displacements and dispossessions which resulted in the perpetuation of poverty through denial of access to land and resources.

The People and Parks Programme has now been afforded resonance in the Convention on Biological Diversity Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA).

PoWPA encourages parties to establish policies and institutional mechanisms that promote commu­nity participation, use social and economic benefits for poverty reduction, engage communities in participatory planning, and promote access to genetic resources. This is done with full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, in full respect of their rights and in recognition of their responsibilities.

The programme provides a platform for conservation institutions across the country, communities af­fected by protected areas, potential funders, research institutions and non-governmental organisations to discuss issues of common interest under the theme “Conservation for the People by the People”. A roadmap Action Plan is in place and guides the multi-stakeholder relationship.

Major achievements of this partnership include:

• The People and Parks forum has scheduled meetings once every two years;
• A steering committee (government and communities) which meets at least once a year;
• An action plan which establishes key areas of focus for the partnership and addresses issues at the interface between conservation and communities towards mutual harmony;
• A memorandum of agreement which establishes an approach for the settlement of land claims in protected areas;
• A National Co-management framework which sets out principles, models, and beneficiation framework to guide the relationship between management authorities and land reform beneficiaries;
• A best practice publication which documents success stories from across all nine provinces as an opportunity for further replication and consolidation of the gains made thus far.

Some of the major challenges surrounding the implementation of development projects within and around the protected areas include:

• The slow pace of land reform delaying the conclusion of co-management agreements which are critical for accrual of benefits including capital equities for land reform beneficiaries;
• Insufficient funding and capacity for implementation of income generating and skills development initiatives in particular from the provincial institutions;
• Competing land use options such as mining and agriculture; and
• Insufficient appreciation of the value and linkages with protected areas in poverty alleviation.
• Insufficient, degraded or dilapidated infrastructure such as (conference facilities, staff accommodation facilities, roads, water purification systems, sewage treatment plants etc.) within the protected areas which makes it difficult for the general public and tourist to access or to visit these areas.

The focus area seeks to ensure a sustained infrastructure in order to improve environmental health and wellbeing of general public visiting and staying around and that of the protected area’s staff members whilst creating and augmenting destinations for nature based tourism and contributing to cultural, spir­itual and economic development. Well established protected areas with infrastructure will make these protected areas more accessible to the tourists and general public (especially local communities living in and adjacent to these parks) in order to ensure that conservation remains a viable contributor to social and economic development in rural areas.

The current state of infrastructure within the protected areas, a phenomenon of the current funding system (where conservation has to compete with basic needs such as education, health, social devel­opment, etc) does not help protected areas to maximise their contribution to poverty alleviation, diver­sification of livelihoods, optimising tourism spinoffs and supporting local economic development hence the department’s intervention to upgrade or develop new infrastructure will change the state of these protected areas and in turn create sustainable jobs and skills development opportunities for the locals.

Categories of protected areas where the EPIP projects will be implemented
 

• National Parks- with one or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphologic sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty e.g. Namaqua National Park
• Nature Reserves- protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research e.g. Witsand Nature Reserve
• Community Conservation Areas- area run and owned by the community e.g. Usuthu Gorge
• Wilderness Areas- uncultivated region left in its natural condition, especially: A large wild tract of land covered with dense vegetation, mountains or forests e.g. Cederberg Wilderness
• Biosphere Reserves- a representative ecological area with 3 mutually reinforcing functions: conservation, sustainable development and logistic support for scientific research and education
• World Heritage Sites –has its cultural significance or natural beauty/importance and could be a coral reef, mountain range, wetland, desert, architectural development, city or even a cultivated landscape. e.g. iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Mapungubwe
• Communal land-area owned by the community which will include residential area, grazing area, crop farming land and any other open land owned by the community.

EPIP projects will be implemented in the reserves managed by the municipalities, provincial Departments of Environment and Conservation Authorities where land claims have been resolved, finalized and the land awarded to the rightful owners.

Map outlining protected areas